Simulated bonding

Another narrative tool that has been highlighted in criticism of late is relationships between characters, in particular how giving players agency over whether and how relationships develop can serve the broader narrative and aesthetic goals of a game.

“Because any given character will have scenes with about a dozen other characters, Fates achieves a unique depth-through-breadth method of characterization as you see the different facets of each unit through their relationships with each other, and much more than that by letting you see them as antagonists as well.”

Simulated fighting

Some of the more technical pieces this week examined creative ways that players and developers have worked with violence — be it the physical violence of a fighting game or using a staircase of goombas to get a leg-up, or the psychological violence of mind control in battle.

A Farewell to Focus | ZAM Suriel Vazquez’s technical analysis of design change in Street Fighter and the tension between casual fun and professional depth

“Before long, The Focus Attack went from being a way for the casual crowd to implement something new into their game plan to one of the most technical aspects of the game”

Critical creativity

There is always more to learn about how critical analysis tools from a variety of disciplines can improve game development. Pieces this week looked specifically at storytelling, avatar creation and music.

“Fallen London and Sunless Sea content chunks are rigorously edited, and the Failbetter Slack channel for contributors sees constant, ongoing discussion of style, voice, and theme. And (at least for me) that quality of editing is a positive inducement to write for a particular company or publisher.”

Critical inclusivity

As well as incisive writing on the structural exclusions in games culture, there was some positive news about concrete action being taken within games criticism to center the needs of disabled players.

“Corrypt and Starseed Pilgrim, another abstract puzzle game endorsed by Blow, aren’t necessarily great PR for “indie games.” They’re far too idiosyncratic to ever be widely embraced by the more traditional game culture, but they don’t match the “film-lite,” middlebrow, white-washed NPR image of indie games either. So many of these games exist in a weird limbo — not largely understood or supported by those on either end.”

“Confidence and humility, together, let you tackle a problem as it is, serene in the knowledge that you either will or won’t be able to solve it, and the only meaningful way to find out is to give it an honest try.”

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